Thin air processing device for heat ventilation air conditioning system

ABSTRACT

A thin air processing device suitable for wall mounting comprises a housing and located inside a crossflow blower, an air processing unit and a controller unit. The housing comprises a cover plate, a base and side parts. The blower comprises a casing, an impeller, an electric drive with a flat stator and a magnetized rotor, and an axle fixed perpendicularly to the base. The casing comprises an inlet, a central part and an outlet and integrated with the housing thus a volute shape of the casing formed by side parts. The impeller comprises circumferential arrayed magnetic means thus serving as the magnetized rotor. The flat stator comprises circumferential arrayed coils with magnetic axes coincide with a plane of the flat stator and integrated with the housing. The air processing unit located at the inlet of the casing and comprises an intake and an outtake openings.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/759,949 filed Jan. 19, 2006 for Edward Lopatinsky et al. the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to heat ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) systems for moving air, and/or regulating the temperature, humidity and quality of indoor air. More particularly, the present invention relates to air processing devices such as ventilators including heat ventilators, coolers, air conditioners and air purifiers. The present invention is particularly, but not exclusively, useful for systems that are mounted on the wall and became a part of room décor; therefore, thickness of the system is a critical factor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Regulation of the temperature, humidity and indoor air quality is an important consideration during the design of HVAC systems. Such air parameters are managed to improve human comfort and productivity, and to avoid some specific health problems. All such air processing devices are comprised of an air moving device plus some air processing unit, usually external to the structure. The system might provide humidifier, de-humidifier, air conditioner, filter, or other functions, but the present invention is applicable to those systems in which a thin, unobtrusive, wall-mounted air movement system is desirable, while retaining efficient air movement and low noise.

In addition to the main requirements like supplying enough airflow at the specific static pressure there are some specific requirements for air moving devices such as lower sound levels and relatively high efficiency.

Axial fans are rarely used as air moving devices because they do not create enough static pressure required at the required airflow. Such designs are described in the International Patent Application WO 2005/040686 “Window Type Air Conditioner”.

There are numerous designs of air processing devices for HVAC systems that include radial type blowers as an air moving devices, for example, U.S. patent application 2005/0257687. Radial blowers for indoor air processing devices create sufficient static pressure at a given airflow, but have relatively small diameter of the impeller, usually less than 500 mm. It is well known that for such diameters the total blower efficiency decreases dramatically.

Crossflow blowers are used in air processing devices more often due to their affordable mounting performance and a well known ability to achieve relatively high efficiency that does not depend upon diameter size. And more, the crossflow blower creates much more static pressure at the same airflow unlike the radial blower when other conditions are equal. There are many such designs, for example, International Patent Application WO 2004/085929 “Indoor Unit for Air Conditioner” and Japanese Patent No. JP2000297945 “An Air Conditioner”. According to these designs, air processing devices comprise a base with a flat surface for wall mounting and the axis of the crossflow blower is parallel in respect to that surface. Electric motors for typical crossflow blowers are located adjacent to the impellers and a drive is achieved by belt or other means, because when the electric motor is placed inside the impeller it destroys the internal aerodynamic structure of the crossflow blower thus dramatically decreasing performance characteristics.

Modern air processing devices have become a part of indoor interior as a wall-mounted system, creating a requirement for thin box shaped designs. But, known designs do not allow a thin air processing device with the crossflow blower for such wall-mounted air movement systems. The thickness of known devices with the crossflow blower axis parallel to the mounting surface is defined by the impeller diameter. Such solutions are thicker than desired, and neither satisfy the market.

The main problem of all known air processing devices is that they cannot resolve the contradiction between the high performance that requires a relatively big impeller diameter on the one hand and a small thickness of the whole device on the other hand.

Therefore, it is generally desirable to provide a thin, box shaped air processing device for indoor HVAC systems with an efficient crossflow blower that overcomes such problems in a mechanically feasible manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention a thin air processing device for heat ventilation air conditioning system comprises a housing and located inside a blower, an air processing unit and a controller unit. The housing comprises a cover plate, a base and side parts. The blower comprises a casing, a drum type impeller, an electric drive with a flat stator and a magnetized rotor, and an axle fixed perpendicularly to the base. The casing comprises an inlet, a central part and an outlet and integrated with the housing thus a volute shape of the casing formed by the side parts. The impeller is placed at the central part and comprises blades attached to a backplate and a shroud, and circumferential arrayed magnetic means at the peripheral part of the impeller, serving as the magnetized rotor. The flat stator comprises circumferential arrayed coils with magnetic axes coincide with a plane of the flat stator and integrated with the housing. The magnetic means placed and magnetized along the plane of the flat stator thus magnetic axes of the coils and the magnetic means located at the plane of the flat stator substantially. The air processing unit located at the inlet of the casing and comprises an intake and an outtake openings, so air flows through the intake opening, the air processing unit, the outtake opening, the inlet, the impeller and the outlet in a series way, thus the blower is a crossflow type blower.

The casing further comprises two volute tongues divided the impeller circumference on an inlet and an outlet arcs thus the inlet arc is within 90-130 degrees and the outlet arc is within 140-230 degrees.

The preferred embodiment according to the present invention comprises the blower with at least one guide vane surrounded by the impeller and integrated with the base, so air flows through the intake opening, the air processing unit, the outtake opening, the inlet, the blades, the guide vane, the blades again and the outlet in a series way. The flat stator is integrated with the base while the magnetic means is integrated with the shroud.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention the flat stator is integrated with the cover plate while the magnetic means is integrated with the backplate.

According to the other embodiment of the present invention at least one guide vane is integrated with the cover plate.

The air processing unit can comprise an air purifier and/or a filter and/or a humidifier and/or a temperature regulating means placed within the intake and outtake openings.

The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the preferred embodiment of the thin air processing device for heat ventilation air conditioning system for the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the preferred embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the housing and flat stator integrated with the base according to the preferred embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plane top view showing the housing and drum type impeller according to the preferred embodiment of the air processing device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective exploded view showing the second embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention. The flat stator integrated with the cover plate while the magnetic means integrated with the backplate.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing the second embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing the housing and flat stator integrated with the cover plate according to the second embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a design option according to the preferred embodiment of the air processing device when intake opening coincides with one of the side part of the casing.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view showing a design option of the air processing device according FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the third embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention when at least one guide vane integrated with the cover plate.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the third embodiment of the air processing device for the present invention when the cover plate is turned along the edge for better illustrative view.

FIGS. 12 and 12A are two variants of section view along radial direction of the region A from FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1-12A show embodiments of the present invention.

A thin air processing device 1 for heat ventilation air conditioning system comprises a housing 2 and located inside a blower 3, an air processing unit 4 and a controller unit 5. The housing 2 comprises a cover plate 6, a base 7 and side parts 8. The blower 3 comprises a casing 9, a drum type impeller 10, an electric drive 11 with a flat stator 12 and a magnetized rotor 13, and an axle 14 fixed perpendicularly to the base 7. The casing 9 comprises an inlet 15, a central part 16 and an outlet 17 and integrated with the housing 2 thus a volute shape 18 of the casing 9 formed by the side parts 8. The impeller 10 placed at the central part 16 and comprises blades 19 attached to a backplate 20 and a shroud 21, and circumferential arrayed magnetic means 22 at the peripheral part of the impeller 10, thus serves as the magnetized rotor 13. The flat stator 12 comprises circumferential arrayed coils 23 with magnetic axes coincide with a plane of the flat stator 12 and integrated with the housing 2. The magnetic means 22 placed and magnetized along the plane of the flat stator 12 thus magnetic axes of the coils 23 and the magnetic means 22 located at the plane of the flat stator 12 substantially. The air processing unit 4 located at the inlet 15 of the casing 9 and comprises an intake 25 and an outtake 26 openings, so air flows through the intake opening 25, the air processing unit 4, the outtake opening 26, the inlet 15, the impeller 10 and the outlet 17 in a series way, thus the blower 3 is a crossflow type blower.

The casing 9 further comprises two volute tongues 27 and 27A divided the impeller circumference on an inlet 28 and an outlet 29 arcs thus the inlet arc 28 is within 90-130 degrees and the outlet arc 29 is within 140-230 degrees (FIG. 4).

The preferred embodiment according to the present invention comprises the blower 3 with at least one guide vane 30 surrounded by the impeller 10 and integrated with the base 7, so air flows through the intake opening 25, the air processing unit 4, the outtake opening 26, the inlet 15, the blades 19, the guide vane 30, the blades 19 again and the outlet 17 in a series way. The flat stator 12 integrated with the base 7 while the magnetic means 22 integrated with the shroud 21.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention the flat stator 12 integrated with the cover plate 6 while the magnetic means 22 integrated with the backplate 20.

There are two design options according to both embodiments. The first design option (FIGS. 1-7) realizes an aerodynamic scheme when ambient air goes to the intake opening 25 of the air processing unit 4 in direction perpendicular to the cover plate 6, while the second design option (FIGS. 8-9) realizes the aerodynamic scheme when ambient air goes to the corresponding intake opening 25 from side in direction parallel to the cover plate 6.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention (FIGS. 11-12A) at least one guide vane 30 integrated with the cover plate 7. Ambient air in this case goes to the intake opening 25 from side in direction parallel to the cover plate 6. Unlike the previous embodiments the backplate 20 located closer to the base 7 than shroud 21. The detailed mutual layout of components of the electric drive 11 is shown on FIGS. 12 and 12A. The coils 23 are integrated with the base 7 while magnetic means 22 are integrated with the backplate 20 by supporting ring 24 and retaining ring 35. The variant design shown on FIG. 12A differs from design shown on FIG. 12 by the conical upper surface 36 of the backplate 20 and may be used in extremely slim design of air processing device 1 according to the present invention.

According to all embodiments and variant designs the air processing unit 4 may be made like air purifier 32 and/or humidifier 34 and/or may comprises the temperature regulating means 33.

The air processing device 1 for HVAC systems operates in the following way. When an electric power supplied to the flat stator 12 of the electric drive 11, the alternative electro-magnetic field is created. This electro-magnetic field controlled by the controllers (not shown on Figs.) interacts with a magnetic field created by the magnetized rotor 13. In result of this interaction the magnetized rotor 13 and, therefore the impeller 10 of the blower 3, starts to rotate. Ambient air starts moving and flow through the air processing unit 4 and the crossflow blower 3 thus regulating temperature, humidity and quality of indoor air. The controller unit 5 regulates volume and all mentioned parameters of ambient air.

Therefore, the air processing device 1 due to the mutual arrangement of the crossflow blower 3 with impeller 10 parallel to the base 7 of the housing 2 according to the present invention provides a thin, compact, high efficient, simple, reliable and less expensive air processing device that can easily mounting at the wall.

While the invention has been described with reference to various embodiments, it will be understood that these embodiments are only illustrative that the scope of invention is not limited to them. Many variations, modifications and improvements of the embodiments described are possible. Variations and modifications of the embodiments disclosed herein may be made based on description set forth herein, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A thin air processing device for heat ventilation air conditioning system comprising a housing and located inside a blower, an air processing unit and a controller unit, wherein: (i) said housing comprising a cover plate, a base and side parts; (ii) said blower comprising a casing, a drum type impeller, an electric drive with a flat stator and a magnetized rotor, and an axle fixed perpendicularly to said base; (iii) said casing comprising an inlet, a central part and an outlet and being integrated with said housing thus a volute shape of said casing being formed by said side parts; (iv) said impeller being placed at said central part and comprising blades being attached to a backplate and a shroud, and circumferential arrayed magnetic means at the peripheral part of said impeller, thus serving as said magnetized rotor; (v) said flat stator comprising circumferential arrayed coils with magnetic axes being coincide with a plane of said flat stator and being integrated with said housing; (vi) said magnetic means being placed and magnetized along said plane of said flat stator thus magnetic axes of said coils and said magnetic means being located at said plane substantially; (vii) said air processing unit being located at said inlet of said casing and comprising an intake and an outtake openings, so air flows through said intake opening, said air processing unit, said outtake opening, said inlet, said impeller and said outlet in a series way, thus said blower being a crossflow type blower.
 2. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing further comprising two volute tongues divided the impeller circumference on an inlet and an outlet arcs thus said inlet arc being within 90-130 degrees and said outlet arc being within 140-230 degrees.
 3. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blower further comprising at least one guide vane surrounded by said impeller and being integrated with said housing, so air flows through said intake opening, said air processing unit, said outtake opening, said inlet, said blades, said guide vane, said blades again and said outlet in a series way.
 4. The air processing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said at least one guide vane being integrated with said base.
 5. The air processing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said at least one guide vane being integrated with said cover plate.
 6. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flat stator being integrated with said base while said magnetic means being integrated with said shroud.
 7. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flat stator being integrated with said cover plate while said magnetic means being integrated with said backplate.
 8. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air processing unit comprising an air purifier placed within said intake and outtake openings.
 9. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air processing unit comprising a temperature regulating means placed within said intake and outtake openings.
 10. The air processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air processing unit comprising a humidifier placed within said intake and outtake openings. 